Updated July 2026. Ontario opened its 2026 immigration year with a burst of activity: on February 2, 2026, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) issued 1,825 invitations to apply across six targeted draws — all under the Employer Job Offer categories. The pattern in these draws tells you a lot about who Ontario wants in 2026, and it’s worth understanding even if you weren’t invited.
The Draw Results at a Glance
- Foreign Worker stream — physicians: 129 invitations, minimum score 33
- Foreign Worker stream — health & early childhood education: 634 invitations, minimum score 36
- Foreign Worker stream — REDI pilot regions: 14 invitations, minimum score 44
- International Student stream — health & ECE: 1,015 invitations, minimum score 56
- International Student stream — REDI pilot: 26 invitations, minimum score 69
- In-Demand Skills stream — REDI pilot: 7 invitations, minimum score 34
All six draws pulled from Expression of Interest (EOI) profiles created between July 2, 2025 and January 28, 2026.
What the Pattern Shows
1. Everything ran through employer job offers. No Human Capital or Express Entry-aligned draws opened the year — Ontario selected only candidates with committed Ontario employers. If you don’t have an Ontario job offer, these streams are closed doors regardless of your credentials.
2. Healthcare and child care dominate. 1,649 of the 1,825 invitations (90%) went to health-sector and early childhood education candidates. Physicians got their own dedicated draw with a strikingly low cutoff (33), reflecting how aggressively the province is recruiting doctors.
3. The REDI pilot is small but real. The Regional Economic Development through Immigration pilot routes candidates to smaller communities (regions like Lanark, Leeds & Grenville, Sarnia-Lambton, and Thunder Bay). Its draws were tiny (7–26 invitations) but had their own cutoffs — a separate path worth watching if you’re flexible on location.
If You Have an EOI Profile
- Scores that got invited ranged from 33 to 69 depending on stream and target group — check where your score sits against the cutoff for your stream, not the headline numbers
- Invited candidates get 14 days to submit a complete OINP application
- An expired or changed job offer invalidates your application — keep your employer informed of your EOI status
- EOI profiles expire after 12 months; if yours dates from mid-2025, renew it
How This Fits the 2026 Landscape
Ontario’s provincial allocation was cut sharply in the federal levels plan, so the province is spending its reduced nomination quota on the shortest-supply occupations: healthcare, child care, and skilled trades, with employer commitment as the filter. Expect this employer-first, sector-targeted pattern to continue through 2026 — general draws for candidates without job offers are likely to stay rare. For the program mechanics, see our full OINP Employer Job Offer stream guide and the official OINP updates page.
Related Guides
- Ontario Tech Draw (OINP) guide
- Ontario Human Capital Priorities stream
- Express Entry Canada: the complete guide
Draw data: OINP official announcements, February 2026. Check the OINP site for the latest rounds before planning an application.
